Heart
of
Borneo
© WWF-Canon / Edward Parker
My home
My island
My future
Do you live in Brunei, Sabah,
Sarawak or Kalimantan?
Then your home is on the island of
Borneo!
This little book is about taking care of
your island home. It also tells why Borneo
is so special, not just for you and all the
families that live here, but for the whole
world!
Do you live somewhere else?
Then your home is on this planet Earth,
and Borneo is still important to you!
Borneo has one of the Earth’s large
areas of rainforest. What happens to the
tropical rainforests of the world affects
us all – our weather, our health and our
whole future.
Many people round the world have their
eyes on Borneo. They knew that the forest
was being cut down very quickly, and
were very pleased when the governments
of Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and
Indonesia agreed to work together to take
care of the trees that remained.
This little book
will help you
understand why it is important to take
care of the Borneo forest, and show you
how special it is. You can help too!
Read on...
Teachers: This booklet refers to some of the publications of
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and certain pages on its
websites. The abbreviations used in the footnotes are:
BLW Borneo’s Lost World
BBS Biodiscoveries - Borneo’s Botanical Secret
BTI Borneo - Treasure Island at Risk
WEB www.panda.org
1
Heart of Borneo
Before it is too late
In 2007 the governments of Brunei
Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia
agreed that the rainforest of Borneo
needed to be protected. They acted quickly
because trees that took hundreds of
years to grow could be cut down in a few
minutes. They decided to work together
because the most important areas of the
forest that remained covered parts of all
three countries. These areas we call the
“Heart of Borneo”
400 square metres every second
How quickly was the Borneo forest disappearing?
In each year between 2000 and 2002 the
the area of forest cut down was 1,300,000
hectares. This is a very big number, and
hard to understand, isn’t it?
It is the same as 400 square metres, about
the size of two school classrooms, every
second. In the time you take to read this
single page, an area the size of a large
school would have been destroyed.
We know that we need passports and
visas to go from country to country, but
the animals do not! The Heart of Borneo
agreement means that the 15,000 types
of plants and 210 mammal species of the
rainforest can spread freely over a large
protected area which will be carefully
watched over.
Peter Boyce
Plants and Animals
2
400 square metres every second
Some scientists working for the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
drew a map to show how Borneo was changing. In 1900, most of
the island was covered in trees. The lightest green area shows
where the forest had been cut down by the year 2000. The middle green area shows what the scientists thought would happen
by the year 2012 if the cutting did not slow down
The line in red shows the Heart of Borneo.
Work it out!
3
A football field is 100 x 50 metres. How many football fields
would have been cleared of trees in five minutes in 2002? Ans p5
How special is Borneo?
Borneo’s rainforest is full of wonderful plant
and animal life not seen anywhere else
Different Species Found
Plants
Birds
Mammals
Germany
Netherlands
UK
2683
247
76
1221
192
55
1623
229
50
BORNEO
15000
620
221
Everyone is beginning to realise how special the unspoiled
rainforest is.
Even now, more and more new things are being discovered!
Between 1994 and 2004, scientists found 361 new types of animals
and plants. In 2006 alone, another 52 were found including 30
fishes, two tree frogs, 16 types of ginger, three trees and one largeleafed plant. The number of different types of living things on
Borneo is the highest in the world: for example, in Lambir Hills,
Sarawak, researchers counted 1175 different species of trees in
one 52 hectare area.
Many special animals live on Borneo: the orang-utan, Sumatran
rhinoceros, clouded leopard, Borneo pygmy elephant,
proboscis monkey, flying lemur, gibbon, tarsier and slow
loris. These animals are so special that
they need protecting from thieves.
A
special agreement called CITES helps to
stop them being bought and sold, but they
need better protection because the thieves
are very clever.
© WWF-Canon / A. Compost
Scientists are also finding new medicines in
the forest. More and more they find plants
with special medical properties - to cure
life-threatening diseases4.
Heart of Borneo forests are also important
because they are the source of most of the
island’s major rivers and provide fresh
water for all of us that live on the island5.
CITES = Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
BLW p4
2 BLW p7
3 WEB
4 BBS p14
5 WEB
4
Now or Never
The plants and animals are being
destroyed faster and faster
Although lots of new plants and animals are discovered, others
are nearly gone forever. It is mostly the large mammals and
some trees that are in danger. But even some insects too.
© WWF-Canon / A. Compost
The danger comes in two ways: loss of forest trees and illegal
selling of animals. Unfortunately, in Borneo, these two things
happen at the same time. Roads are
made to allow trees to be transported
out and these permit easy and fast
access to poachers*, especially to areas
which would be very hard to reach
otherwise.
They take elephants, rhinos, orangutans, sun-bears and clouded leopards
- so that not many are left. Some of the
animals are cut up to sell as body parts
or skins; others are sold into miserable
lives as pets.
Trees are cut down for their valuable
wood and to make way for plantations. Both of these activities
divide the remaining forest into small patches - too small for the
large mammals to find food and mates. And every new forest
edge is a new place for the drying heat of the sun, creating soil
conditions where deep forest trees cannot live.
The scientists studying these changes predicted* that by 2012
there would be no lowland forest left - and of course no place for
the wild animals. This must be stopped quickly!.
Vocabulary Help
poachers - people who capture wild animals illegally
predicted - told of future events
5
Answer from p3: an area the size of 24 football
fields in just five minutes!
Plants and Animals in Danger
Some plants and animals may disappear in the wild within our lifetime.
These are some species from Borneo that are on the danger list.
What can you do?
© WWF-Canon / A. Compost
Asian Elephant Borneo Rhinoceros
Spiny Terrapin Proboscis Monkey Orang-utan Asian Arowana (Golden Dragon Fish)
Storm’s Stork Spotted Greenshank © WWF-Canon / A. Compost
Rajah’s Pitcher Plant Rothschild’s Slipper Orchid
Sander’s Slipper Orchid Price’s Rafflesia
Banteng or Tembadau
Bornean Marbled Bay Cat
Otter-civet Bornean Tree Shrew Now we know there is a problem, we must all try to help. Animals
and plants are stolen and sold. If we do not buy these special
treasures the stealing will stop.
You can learn what is in danger and protected.
You can share your knowledge with friends and family.
Don’t let it happen in our lifetime!
Peter Boyce
Get pictures of endangered species from: www.iucnredlist.org
Get information about illegal sales from: www.traffic.org
6
What happens when parts of
the forest are cleared?
When the forest trees are cut down and the land is made clean
and smooth, nothing can grow. The food for the trees in the forest comes only from the leaves and branches that fall to the floor.
Living things need food. Forest trees need the forest floor.
The plants compete
for
spa
ce
an
d
Peter Boyce
.
The
o
lo
f
t
u
sf
ri
.
f life
ll o
ts
ien
tr
nu
fo
re
s
Most forest animals like to hide and lead private lives. What happens when the leafy cover and shady home is cut down? How can
they travel from place to place to find their food? The animals
need to move around to new parts of the forest safely.
e
yo
ur
t
c
uc
i
oun
ep
h
t
t eig
es i n
ht diff
erent plant speci
?
C
an
The picture gives a lesson. The mix of so many plants and trees
offers many thousands of different foods for the thousands of
creatures living here. Mammals, birds, plants, insects, amphibians, reptiles, all need each other, living together in a way we are
only beginning to understand. They help protect each other, help
make seeds and spread them, break down wastes for re-use and
give many other services, as well as being food for one another!
7
© WWF-Canon / Jikkie JONKMAN
The People of the Forest
Groups of families also live in the forest. Their lives too are disturbed when farming, forestry or business build roads, cut down
trees and change the forest home they have enjoyed for hundreds
of years.
Those of us who live in cities may not want to share their lives and
may even be frightened to live where they do. But now we know
we must protect our world, the more we need these families to
share what they know.
These are the guides for the scientists and, in the future,
for the tourists. They know important things about using
plants for medicine and understand the ways that animals
behave.
Time for Research
Do you know anything about the Kayan, the Kenyah, the Kelabit,
the Iban, the Bidayuh, the Barito, the Dusun, the Kadazan, the
Murut, the Penan?
If you live on Borneo, you may recognise that tourism is a good
way to earn money by sharing the traditional ways of life, and to
earn money by showing people the precious untouched forest!
To encourage people to come to Borneo, you could research and
learn about all aspects of the island which foreign visitors find
special and interesting. Build yourself a future!
You can find information about these peoples in BTI pages 27-33.
Maybe your teacher can arrange letters between students from
town and students from the interior of the island.
8
Endangered Species Crossword
The Dayak developed agro-ecosystems adapted to their
tropical forest environment, based on the farming
Words
using
white areas
have clues
techniques
introduced
into Borneo
by thebelow. All the words for the
yellow
areas are animals in danger from the list on page six.
Austronesians.
Therehave
are some
letters
for and
these to help you!
The Kenyah
very close
tiesprovided
to the Kayan
follow a similar hierarchical social system. Often these
tribes are neighbours.122 It is known that the Kenyah
initially lived in the mountainous area between what is
now part of the Bahagian Belaga and Bahagian Baram
in Sarawak and the Iwan River area in East
Kalimantan. Like the Kayan they live in longhouses
and it is possible that they were still hunters and
gatherers
The Kelabit are a group usually found in the region
which has as its centre the meeting zone of Sarawak,
Sabah, Brunei and East Kalimantan. 124
There were about 40,000 people in these tribes in the
mid 1990s. Although they also practise shifting
cultivation, they engage in irrigated rice production and
raise cattle.
The Iban (previously referred to as Sea-Dayak) are the
largest group within the Dayak population. The original
territory of the Iban is located in the region of the
Kapuas River and the coastal regions of West
Kalimantan from where they slowly spread into
Sarawak.
The Bidayuh
The Bidayuh people are sometimes referred to as Land
Dayak. Their numbers throughout Borneo could be as
high as 230,000.
The Barito
The population of the shifting cultivators of the Barito
group is estimated to be in the range of 350,000 and
covers much of the southern part of the island. AsDOWN
is the
ACROSS
6case
River
of Rome
18 Surfaces
for driving
with
most Dayak they
subdivided
and named1 Large farms
7themselves
Prefix for four
2 Peaceful
according to 19
theMail
river along which they
live.
8 To keep hands in
20 Sign of fire
3 King’s seat
9 Makes angry
21 Not professional
4 Pump in a body
10 Clap
22 Seafood with legs
5 Money for mail
11 Subject
23 Irrational number
12 Stealing
13 Support life
24 Bringing death
17 Flat land
14 Colour of forest
23 Animal feet
Another crossword and the solution
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/newlydiscoveredspeciesonborneo25042005.pdf
15 Care for
25 Singular number
at http://heartofborneo.cfbt.org
http://assets.panda.org/downloads/biodiscoveriesborneosbotanicalsecret.pdf
16 Crisp fruit
26 What we breathe
9
from
BTI
My Home, My Island, My Future
Amongst the Dusun and the Kadazan, individual
The
economies
of Indonesian
and Malaysian
Borneo
houses
had already
replaced longhouses
at the time
of rely on trees.
Palm
oil
and
wood
are
very
valuable
products
to sell and bring
European contact, while for the Murut longhouses were
money
to
the
people.
still normal until recent decades.
The Heart of Borneo initiative protects important areas of forest
without
thisthe
valuable
The first stopping
account sees
Penan’swork.
hunter-gatherer
existence as a remnant of the development of farming
Oil
palmon
gives
more
oiltheory
than argues
other plants.
It is predicted to bepractices
Borneo.
This
that the Penan
come
the
leading
oil
in
the
world
in
ten
years’
were left behind when all the other groups made the time. Oil palms
make
23%toof
world food
oil and 51%
of sales
to other countries,
transition
agriculture.
Supporters
of a second
theory
with
Malaysia
and
Indonesia
producing
84%
of
that in 2002.
argue that their nomadic culture is completely
independent from the culture of farmers.
Timber plantations on Borneo are expected to do three things: The intactness
grow of
hardwood
building
woodworking;
the waterfor
systems
and and
forests
prior to
the formation
growof
fuel
wood
for
energy
and
charcoal;
Indonesia and Malaysia as
independent
grow
quick-growing
for pulp,
paper and rayon
states
is proof thattrees
the local
management
Sadly
the
timber
plantations
are
not
yet
a
major
business, beof the land by the indigenous people was successful
in
cause
it
is
easier
to
make
money
cutting
down
the
forest trees
preserving their natural resources and way of life.
that
have
taken
hundreds
of
years
to
grow,
than
to
plant new
Only with the recent commodification and
trees
and
wait
for
them
to
be
ready.
commercialisation of the rainforest, have we started to
witness a serious threat to the sustainable use of the
The
Heart
ofhas
Borneo
initiative gathers
the precious
untouched
forests.
Never
the transformation
of the Dayak
been
parts
of
the
island
into
one
joined-up
piece
of
land
to
keep
it safe
so radical.
for
the
future.
This
does
not
mean
the
area
will
not
be
valuable
Today, no activity is more threatening to the lifestyle of
to
peoplespeople
of Borneo.
thethe
indigenous
of Borneo than deforestation
No,
there
will
be
National
Parks to be managed for tourists. Peothrough logging and
conversion.
ple with local knowledge will have jobs as guides and teachers.
And
theplantations
medicines and other scientific discoveries that come from
Timber
the
rainforests
will bring money for the whole country.
Oil palm plantations?
On Borneo, like the best of home-owners, three neighbours
will work together to care for the land on their borders for the
sake of the rainforest and all its natural riches. The treasure
of this island is a gift to the World.
What can I do?
Treat the planet Earth as your home - as you treat your own home.
After all, it is not merely OUR home, but the future home of our
children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren..........
BTI p44 BTI p 46
10
This booklet was originated by the British High Commission Brunei
Darussalam and produced and printed with their kind support.
Special thanks are due to Peter Boyce, the author and designer,
and to WWF for permission to use their material throughout.
Printed on Recycled Paper
© WWF-Canon / Edward Parker
British High Commission
Bandar Seri Begawan
10